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The Language of Surprise

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Aspiring writers complete and discuss fill-in-the-blank cliché expressions, define cliché as a form of predictable writing, take cliché expressions and turn them into new, unpredictable ones, read poetry that illustrates writer's use of...
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Pablita Indian Legends

For Teachers K - 3rd
Scholars are introduced to the characteristics of a legend. They read and discuss Old Father Story Teller by Pablita Velarde. Then, in groups, they write and illustrate a poem based on one of the legends from the book. This lesson plan...
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Christmas Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore writing using literary terms. In this Christmas poetry instructional activity, students write a poem about a Christmas tree or a snowman using at least one example of each: metaphor, simile, and personification....
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A Courtly Love Poem

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Pupils engage in a writing assignment to produce a thirteenth century Italian Courtly Poem. They imitate the literary patterns of writing to produce a unique poem using a model for example. Students review the basic terminology for...
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Out of the Dust 1

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students review figurative languages terms and examples. They read the first entry in the book, Out of the Dust, and discuss the images created by the author. Then they create an autobiographical poem using figurative language.
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Reading Lesson Plan

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders read the poem "Still I Rise" and discuss the different ways it can be told and read and brought to life. In this poetry lesson plan, 10th graders read aloud and silently, and compare different works of poetry.
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Still I Rise: Maya Angelou

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read the poem, Still I rise, by Maya Angelou. They examine how language, poetic devices, and format contribute to the poet's message. They identify poetic devices used in the poem.
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Flowers, Flowers, Flowers...A Visit with Georgia O'Keeffe

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Young scholars analyze, discuss, and research Georgia O'Keeffe and her flower paintings. They select a flower to paint and create a watercolor painting in the style of Georgia O'Keeffe. Students compose a poem describing their painting.
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VH1 Driven: Kanye West, Lesson 2

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars compose an original rap. They discuss the career and music of Kanye West, discuss their pre-writing worksheet, and write an original rap using a Final Draft Worksheet.
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A Rose Is a Rose

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Flowering learners explore the concept of figurative language as it relates to poems, songs, or creative written expression. In this creative writing lesson, they complete several phrases using similes, metaphors, and...
Interactive
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Poetic Devices

For Teachers 5th - 6th
In this figurative language worksheet, students read and study examples of simile and metaphor. There are 20 questions to be used with Smartboard and 10 questions in which students identify similes or metaphors.
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Fifth Grade Literature: January

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders examine and analyze various poems by Edward Hersey Richards, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickinson. They explore similes, and write journal entry responses.
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Personify This

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study personification in published works of poetry, then create their own through the use of diamante or cinquain poetry. They read and discuss poetry by Shel Silverstein, William Jay Smith, and Elinor Wylie.
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I Just Want to Say

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study poetic devices included in conversation poems and explore their eloquent messages. They read and discuss poems by Langston Hughes and Don Marquis.
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A Moment in Time

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study poems to see how punctuation, line length, rhythm and word choice can be used to create a memorable moment. They read and discuss poems by Shel Silverstein.
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students read and analyze the novel "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. They discuss the poetry and prose of the book, the importance of role models, complete a worksheet, and write a narrative using figurative language.
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The Witch of Goingsnake

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students identify figurative language in a proverb and write an interpretation of the proverb prior to reading The Witch of Goingsnake. In this The Witch of Goingsnake instructional activity, students read a native American proverb and...
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Out of the Dust 4

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders read the novel, "Out of the Dust," and create a free-verse poem about a treasure of their own. They use the attached checklist to evaluate their own poem.
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Awesome Alliterations

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars review examples of alliteration in Shel Silverstein's poems. They are assigned a letter of the alphabet and then write an original alliterative poem using that letter.
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Reflecting/Writing after a field trip or other experience

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students reflect on field trips in writing. In this journal writing lesson, students write about a recent experience by using 4 of their senses to tell what they remember. They turn these into poetry. 
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Out of the Dust: Figurative Language

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students find examples of figurative language in "First Rain" in Out of the Dust.  In this Out of the Dust instructional activity, students takes notes on various type of figurative language and identify examples of each type in the...
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Ode to a Nightingale

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers read poems about Tuberculosis by John Keats. Using the poems, they identify similies, metaphors, personification and imagery. In groups, they make connections about the author's outlook on life and how his disease...
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Imagery

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read the poem The Worker by Richard W. Thomas as an example of the effective use of imagery. Then they complete a 5-senses chart describing some part of nature, e.g. sea, clouds, etc. Then they write their own poem using the...
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A Magic Flower of Wishes

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Pupils discuss which values are most important to them and their families. They read poetry and fairy tales to find a story that has the same value they find most important. They create a presentation and share it with the class.